Rugby returned to the temple of hurling and Gaelic football earlier this year, as the Champions Cup semi-final between Leinster and Northampton brought a sell-out crowd of 82,000 to Croke Park.
It was an epic occasion, over 14 years since the last rugby game to take place on the hallowed turf, and over 15 years since the last club rugby game.
Anyone lucky enough to be in attendance on that May afternoon will speak of the electric atmosphere in GAA HQ, with the stands packed out on this most unusual of sporting days.
The English opposition on the day added an intriguing element to the semi-final clash, with the Northampton stars receiving history lessons ahead of the game at one of the most historic sporting venues in Europe.
They also took to Croke Park on the day before kick-off to try out their hurling skills on the pitch - something which got under the skin of Galway legend Joe Canning.
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Joe Canning was livid to see rugby players with hurls on Croke Park pitch
3 May 2024; Courtney Lawes plays hurling during a Northampton Saints captain's run at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
For some time, the GAA's ban on inter-county hurling players bringing hurls on the pitch before their warm-up has ruffled a few feathers and has earned criticism from several quarters. A particularly notable example of its enforcement saw a photo circulate showing Cork star Patrick Horgan being stopped from entering the field of play by a steward ahead of May's electric Munster round-robin clash with Limerick.
It was for this reason that hurling icon Joe Canning was livid to see Northampton players allowed a puck-around on the Croke Park pitch before their Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster.
Writing in his recently-released autobiography My Story, Canning said:
This is the kind of thing that exasperates me about the GAA.
I was genuinely delighted that Leinster got to play their Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton in Croke Park last May. As a GAA man, I'm proud of the stadium and only too happy to have it shown to the outside world.
But it made my blood absolutely boil to see images of Courtney Lawes and other Northampton players messing around with hurls on the field the day before that game when that right is casually denied to hurlers on the biggest day of our year.
Not because I thought the rugby players were doing anything out of the ordinary. They weren't. But because they were indulged something that the GAA denies its own stars literally an hour before they become the centrepiece of hurling's biggest day.
To me, this rule is stone-cold ridiculous. It speaks of nothing more than a lack of respect for its own people. Sometimes, the GAA really lets itself down with stupid stuff. And that's about as stupid as it gets.
Though they may be very different situations, it is hard to argue with Joe Canning's assessment of an outdated GAA rule.
Rugby will continue to appear in Croke Park this season as Leinster deal with life away from the RDS. If there is to be more hurling on the hallowed pitch ahead of those games, we may yet hear more from Canning.
